Watch how to make a postage stamp quilt (video tutorial & written instructions)

Jessica A. Scott

Contributing Writer

Quilt Videos / YouTube

Do you ever get to the end of the quilt-making process and find that you have dozens of small pieces of fabric left over? Never fear: There is a fun, easy way to use that excess material to make another quilt!

A postage stamp quilt is simply a quilt made from hundreds (or more) tiny squares of fabric, usually scraps left over from previous projects. The quilt style gets its name from the small size of its squares; the finished quilt will look as if it is covered in little stamps!

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While the process is a bit more time-consuming than other quilting techniques, there are shortcuts and tricks that make it go quickly and smoothly. Here is a step-by-step guide to get you started, using the strip-piecing method.

Watch the postage stamp quilt block tutorial by Quilt Monkey:

MaterialsQuilt scraps (narrow, rectangular or square pieces work best) or precut fabric strips from a craft store, as shown in the videoScissors or rotary cutterThreadSewing machine or sewing needle

Pro tip: While you can use literally any type of fabric for this project, Julie Finn of Crafting a Green World recommends using material that is all of a similar weight. This will help you sew the pieces together more easily and will lead to a more uniform layout.

Finn also states that, while the whole idea of a postage stamp quilt is to use teeny-tiny pieces, you can technically use any size squares that you’d like. The average size of a postage stamp square is 1.5 by 1.5 inches with a ¼-inch seam allowance on each side, but you can get a quilt done much faster if you use 3-inch squares instead! It is up to you to decide how large or small you would like your postage stamps to be.

Written Instructions1. The easiest way to make a postage stamp quilt is to use the strip-piecing method. To do this, gather up several strips of material with different patterns that are 2.5 inches long. You can use fabric scraps of your own, or buy precut strips of fabric from a craft store. Cut the strips so that they are all the same length. Rita Hodge from Red Pepper Quilts suggests using 7-inch strips, but this depends on how many postage stamps you want to have and how big your final quilt will be.